Modulations: Plugged in

Wednesday we went over Echoboy and Crystallizer, two plugins from SoundToys. These plugins are really well designed and easy to use, but once again raise the issue of where sound design ends and the mix begins. I think the use of delays, echo and other plugins of this type can be effectively used in the sound design, composition phase but actually are more appropriate in the mixing phase. However, many times vocals are always reverbed, delayed or echoed to provide a certain tone or emotional coloring. At the same time these same plugins can be used to add "space", movement or emphasis to almost any part of the composition.

For example, our instructor showed us how to setup a dual delay with very short delay times and a small offset for a bass line to add real depth and color. In the end its up to each of us to determine when and how to use these plugins and i suspect as with so much in music its a matter of practice and experiment. Level 2 will continue next week with more plugins.